During the first third of my final season with the Clarets we had made a positive start on all fronts.  We were top of the league with 28 points from a possible 36 and joint top of Champions League Group E, with seven points from a possible nine.

The first match of episode two is a Clarets Clash, in the League Cup 3rd round.  I’ve decided to try and compete on all fronts this year, so we field a full-strength side.  Micky Landreau gets himself sent off, and we capitalise, moving comfortably through to round four.  It seems a long time ago since the darker days of season three and four, when it felt like we had a player sent off nearly every game.

I’ve had my eye on Belgian international Steph the AsStassin for a while, so when he finally becomes available I decide to strengthen the midfield.  His stats are pretty solid, if you ignore the fact he can only last about 20 minutes and has zero idea how to find space.

Djetou and Vernazza are both injured so The AsStassin comes straight into the starting XI, he plays well, getting an 8, but the team are poor.  We seem to be particularly poor against teams from the Northeast of England, we are lucky to leave the Moor with a point.

We have no such trouble on the other side of the North Sea as Ajax are brushed aside thanks to Terry and Pistolo.

The AsStassin comes back into the starting lineup after being cup tied midweek.  He plays a MOM nine and gets his first goal for the Clarets, showing you don’t need stamina or the ability to find space when you play centre mid.

Oh, that is frustrating!

Another side from the Northeast, another struggle, Marcio Amoroso, who I think is surprisingly bad on this game, obviously he finds the net twice as we squander a two-goal lead.  That will teach me to try and play mind games with the opposition.

Riccardo Nobile is not quite as bad as he was at the San Siro but his first 12 minutes is a disaster, with that win we qualify from Group E with a game to spare.

Despite playing nearly half the game with one man more than Chelsea we have to wait till 12 minutes from time before Terry finally finds the net and we come back from being 0-1 down inside the first 20 minutes.

We head to Carrow Road for the League Cup 4th round, for the third game in a row the opposition have a player sent off, despite Stefan Iversen scoring two late goals we progress to the Quarter Finals with a 4-2 win.

Back to the Premier League and the second Claret Clash of the episode and it’s another comfortable victory in the end, although when Bergkamp equalised, it felt like it might be one of those games you dominate but only manage to draw.

I change all 11 players for the final Champions League match.  Micky the Goose scores a rare goal, he’s not been good, J-Pap Jnr Ambrosi also scores, he’s got so little game time with all my other Benes being ahead of him in the pecking order.

Not a bad draw.

We seem to be on a roll at the moment, thanks in part to lots of teams playing against us with ten men, Leicester are the latest club to handicap themselves.

Ian Walker is rubbish when you buy him, but play against him and he’s a goal keeping god.  He saves 10 of the 11 shots that hit the target, luckily, we are becoming 1-0 win experts.

Our first dropped points in the league for a month come at the hands of Liverpool and Neil Alexander. Pistolo scores first but Michael Twiss equalises, and neither team can find the net in the second half.

In a tight game at Molineux Terry and Pistolo make the difference.

2003 begins, as is customary with the FA Cup 3rd round, we are playing non-league Gillingham, I gamble and make some changes as we have the League Cup Quarter Final in three days, luckily it all works out rather nicely at the Moor.

The same cannot be said of our trip to the Riverside, despite fielding a refreshed, full-strength side we are brushed aside by Boro, we really don’t like the North East!  There will be no League Cup victory in this story.

Back to the Moor and back to winning ways, Huddersfield prove a lot less problematic than Middlesbrough.

Back up to the Northeast again, this time to face Newcastle, we play surprisingly well but Danish giant Kristian Thinggaard is unbeatable, at least it is a point.

The 4th round of the FA Cup is away to Birmingham, Bjorn Daelemans, who has been brilliant at right wingback since returning to the club opens the scoring and Pistolo adds a couple more, we are through to the 5th round.

Unfortunately, Djetou, who has been great when he plays, is injured again, that bloody injury proneness of 18!

Luckily The AsStassin is fit again to take up the central midfield role, he gets one and Pistolo gets another two.  After a slowish start Pistol Petko is starting to find the net more regularly.  Former Clarets full back Wesley Byrne gets Norwich’s consolation goal, we wish him the best, now he is getting some game time.

The match against Norwich takes us to 24 league games for the season and the end of episode two.  Apart from the League Cup loss to Boro we are looking strong, still fighting for Champions League and FA Cup glory while holding a seven-point lead over Man Red in the league.

Join us next week for the final episode of this Turf Roar story.  It’s been great fun and we are in with a shout of signing off with a potential treble.